Best Places for Christmas Celebrations

Adam McCann, Financial Writer • Dec 17, 2019

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Adam McCann, Financial WriterDec 17, 2019

It’s the most wonderful time of the year — or at least it can be, depending on where you celebrate Christmas. That’s because America’s favorite holiday is also one of the most expensive. From decorations and food to gifts and travel, there’s a long list of expenses to check twice and save up for during the year.

In 2019, Americans are projected to spend up to $730 billion over the holidays, according to the National Retail Federation. The average person plans to spend $1,047.83. If you don’t have a reasonable holiday budget — or enough self-control — then your Plan B should definitely include celebrating in the cheapest Christmas destinations. Overspending is a common mistake committed by consumers during the Christmas shopping season and one of the top sources of holiday stress.

But beyond ensuring its affordability, a successful holiday also hinges on a location’s Christmas-friendliness. Typical Christmas activities include shopping, dining out and attending holiday events, so the availability of such options can make all the difference. Many people also are likely to attend church services, considering Christmas is a Christian holiday. The more churches around, the less likely each is to be crowded.

WalletHub considered all of those factors to determine where you’re guaranteed to enjoy a holly jolly Christmas whether you’ve been naughty or nice. More specifically, we compared the 100 biggest U.S. cities based on 33 key indicators of a festive and affordable Christmas, such as traditions, shopping and costs. Read on for the ranking results, expert holiday tips and a full description of our methodology.

Ask the Experts

Many people feel pressured to spend during the holidays, which can lead to overspending. To help consumers avoid ending the year with an empty wallet and stay safe during their travels, we asked a panel of experts to share their thoughts on the following key questions:

What tips do you have for celebrating Christmas on a budget?

What are some of the big money wasters on Christmas?

What money-saving tips do you have for people planning to travel for the Christmas holiday?

Methodology

In order to determine the best places to celebrate Christmas, WalletHub compared the 100 most populated cities across five key dimensions: 1) Traditions & Fun, 2) Observance, 3) Generosity, 4) Shopping and 5) Costs.

We evaluated those dimensions using 33 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for celebrating Christmas.

Finally, we determined each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample. In determining our sample, we considered only the city proper in each case, excluding cities in the surrounding metro area. For metrics marked with an asterisk (*), we used the square root of the population to calculate the population size in order to avoid overcompensating for minor differences across cities.

Traditions & Fun - Total Points: 20

Ranking on Top 25 Destinations for Christmas: Double Weight (~2.67 Points)Note: This metric is based on advance hotel reservations made on priceline.com and measures the ranking of the city among the top 25 Christmas destinations.

Presence of SantaCon Events: Full Weight (~1.33 Points)Note: This metrics measures the presence or absence SantaCon events in a city.

Google Search Interest for ‘Christmas Celebration’: Full Weight (~1.33 Points)Note: This metric measures the real intent of the population to find information about the following search terms: “Christmas party”, “Christmas light show”, “Christmas market”, “Christmas concert”, “Christmas festival” and “Christmas dinner”. “Real intent” is measured using the average monthly search volumes for those specific terms.

Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Corporation for National and Community Service, Chronicle of Philanthropy, Council for Community and Economic Research, The Association of Religion Data Archives, Priceline, Eventbrite, Yelp, TripAdvisor, Kayak, Numbeo, Google Ads, SantaCon, Expatistan and WalletHub research.

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